Star cruises in to wow Cannes fans
Movie maverick proves he’s still top gun at film festival
Tom Cruise mania descended in Cannes this week, where the actor made a whirlwind appearance at the film festival, walking the red carpet, receiving a surprise Palme d’Or and watching a squadron of French fighter jets fly over the European premiere of Top Gun: Maverick.
Cannes pulled out all the stops to fete the 59-year-old, paying tribute with not just a rare interview on stage and red-carpet premiere featuring a flyby of jets trailing coloured smoke, but with the unexpected presentation of an honorary Palme d’Or. Festival president Pierre Lescure announced the award — about 15 honorary Palmes have been given before — on stage before the screening. Cruise clutched Cannes’ top prize while the audience gave the actor a standing ovation.
Cruise brought a palpable buzz to the Croisette, where throngs gathered around the Palais des Festivals shouting “Tom!” to try to get a glimpse of the 59-year-old star. Great Balls of Fire blared on the carpet.
Cruise hadn’t been to the festival in three decades. But with plenty of media disruption challenging the theatrical experience, Cannes and Cruise exuded the vibe of long-last pals.
“He is devoted to cinema,” declared artistic director Thierry Fremaux. Cruise’s enthusiastic welcome smacked in some ways of an action hero’s reception, here to save the day.
“I make movies for the big screen,” Cruise said to applause in an interview on stage at Cannes’ Debussy Theatre.
The European premiere of Top Gun: Maverick, directed by Joseph
Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, brought out what’s likely to be among the most starstudded red carpets of the Cannes Film Festival. Among those in attendance were Viola Davis, Dakota Fanning, Omar Sy and Eva Longoria — along with Top Gun: Maverick stars Miles Teller, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm and Glen Powell.
While Cruise arrived by helicopter at the film’s San Diego premiere aboard an aircraft carrier, he came to the Cannes premiere more traditionally, with the film’s cast and film-makers in a cavalcade of cars. Cruise paused to sign autographs and take pictures with fans lined up across the street from the red carpet.
Before that, the festival honoured him with a tribute that consisted of a career-spanning video montage, after which Cruise spoke about his dedication to filmmaking in an interview that stayed away from any personal questions. Instead, he responded to prodding from interviewer Didier Allouch about why, Monsieur Cruise, do you take such risks doing your own stunts?
“No one asked Gene Kelly ‘Why do you dance?’” answered Cruise.
The Cannes stopover for Top Gun: Maverick is part of a worldwide tour for the film ahead of its launch in cinemas.
Asked if he was ever tempted to steer the film to a streaming service, Cruise replied emphatically: “No, that’s not going to happen ever,” responded Cruise to loud applause. “That was never going to happen.”
Cruise spent the majority of the conversation explaining his extreme dedication to the craft of moviemaking, how from an early age he dug into every element of film productions and analysed how particular modes of acting worked best on the big screen. Shooting the 1981 film Taps, with George C Scott, he returned to it again and again as a formative experience.
“Please,” Cruise said he thought at the time, “if I could just do this for the rest of my life, I will never take it for granted.”
No one asked Gene Kelly ‘why do you dance?’ Tom Cruise, when asked why he does his own stunts.